Rape is a type of sexual assault that includes sexual penetration, no matter how slight, without consent. Although other types of sexual assault may be done by men or women, rape is almost always done by men. Most women who are raped are raped by someone they know, such as a former or current intimate partner, an acquaintance, or a family member.1 Rape is never the victim’s fault.
What is rape?
The U.S. Department of Justice defines rape as “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” The legal definition of rape may be different in your community.
Giving your consent means giving a clear “yes” to any type of sexual activity, though the laws about consent vary from state to state. It is also rape when penetration takes place when you are drunk, high, drugged, passed out, or asleep and cannot give consent.
What should I do if I have been raped?
- Get to a safe place. Call the police if you can. The most important thing after a rape is your safety.
- Don’t wash or clean your body. If you shower, bathe, or wash after an assault, you might wash away important evidence. Don’t brush, comb, or clean any part of your body, including your teeth. Don’t change clothes, if possible. Don’t touch or change anything at the scene of the assault. That way, the local police will have physical evidence from the person who assaulted you.
- Get medical care. Go to your nearest hospital emergency room. You need to be examined and treated for injuries. A doctor or nurse may give you medicine to prevent HIV and some other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy.
- If you think you were drugged, talk to the hospital staff about being tested for date rape drugs, such as Rohypnol and GHB. Date rape drugs pass through the body quickly and may not be detectable by the time you get tested.
- Reach out for help. If the country you live in offers resources for rape victims, ask the hospital staff if they can connect you. You can also call a friend or family member you trust to connect you.
- Report the sexual assault to the police. If you want to report the assault to the police, hospital workers can help you contact the local police. If you are in immediate danger, call the police. If you want to report sexual assault that happened in the past, call your local police non-emergency number or make a report in person at the police station.
- If the person who assaulted you was a stranger, write down as many details as you can remember about the person and what happened. This will help you make a clear statement to police and medical providers about the sexual assault. With good information, they will be better able to help you and find the person who assaulted you.
Why do I need medical care after a rape?
After a rape, it can be difficult to think about being touched in personal areas by doctors or nurses. But it’s important that you get examined by health professionals who can look for internal injuries and get you medicines to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancy. Go to a hospital emergency room or a special clinic where staff are specially trained to treat rape and sexual assault victims. If you think you were drugged, ask the hospital or clinic to take a urine sample. This will make it possible to test for date rape drugs like Rohypnol or GHB. But these drugs pass through the body quickly and may not be detectable by the time you are tested.
What happens at the hospital?
Even if you were not physically injured, you may need a full and complete medical exam. This type of medical exam is called a sexual assault forensic exam. It should be very thorough and might take several hours.
If you give permission for the doctors and nurses to do a sexual assault exam, that does not mean you are required to report the rape to the police. Giving your permission for the exam only means the doctors and nurses have your permission to collect DNA and other evidence from your body.
You might have heard of something called a rape kit. This is a container with several things in it that help a doctor, nurse, or examiner collect evidence of rape. These kits usually include a checklist. This helps to make sure all procedures are followed correctly. They may also include forms for collecting the facts and tubes and envelopes for physical evidence and DNA. Collecting this evidence is important. If the rapist is caught and prosecuted, the evidence will be used in court.
The hospital or clinic will usually set up a follow-up appointment. This will help to make sure any injury continues to be treated and that you are getting any other care, such as counseling, that you might need.